Water in the Desert
by FallenInDreams
Summary: In the desert, there is always water. There is always hope. She was the one that couldn't find her way. But he was the one who was truly lost. GaaSaku. HIATUS.
1. Of Captors

Hiya.

Okay, really nervous, here. Since I haven't started a multi-chaptered story in years. I know I've no business starting another, given my track record, but I'm doing this. There are 12 chapters in total and while they're not all written, they are all sorted out. And the chapters aren't going to be very long – compared to a certain other wip I have. So, it won't take me so long to do them.

This world is a ninja one that doesn't follow canon events, at all. And Gaara and Sakura are 19-20 years old.

Anyway. Hopefully, you guys will read and love. Enjoy. ^_^

…  
Chapter One: Of Captors.  
...

" _In the desert, the line between life and death is sharp and quick." – Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson,_ _The Butlerian Jihad_ _._

.

The sun glared down on her and Sakura Haruno couldn't resist poking her tongue up at it, childishly.

The weight on her shoulder shifted awkwardly from her sudden movement and she groaned, channelling more chakra into keeping him from falling any further. It was just her luck that she was saddled with a desert wanderer, of all things. She hated sand. It was abrasive and invasive; she was going to need a serious scrubbing down to get it out of every crevasse it was currently imbedded in. It was nothing like the pleasant sand of beaches. Beaches, she could handle. Not this... _smelly_ substitute.

Sakura turned her head sideways to look at the man slung over her shoulder; his face obscured by that ridiculous scarf he wore, she could almost believe that he was still awake, if not for those black rimmed eyes of his. If she decided to just leave him here, he would deserve it.

But her conscience had gotten the better of her. Her vow as a medic demanded her compassion, not to mention she _would_ actually feel bad about it. She couldn't just abandon a helpless person, not in this heat, and not with those blood thirsty hunters they had barely escaped because of _him_. No matter that the redhead had planned to do the same to her hours ago.

' _You just can't find good bounty hunters, these days.'_

The increased aggression between the great nations was stirring up all kinds of riff-raff these days. That was how she found herself hauling his ungrateful arse through the blazing, searing heat of this god forsaken place. He was one of those riff-raff.

Sakura paused for a moment to catch her breath and wipe her brow again; she wasn't cut out for this. She had access to less than ten per cent of her chakra now, and was using it as sparingly as possible, but the super strength her shishou had taught her to hone would only go so far; it was draining, carrying this guy around. She'd considered just dragging him along the sandy floor, to conserve chakra, but then her conscience interceded again.

She sighed, again, and resumed walking.

There were still a good few hours left in the day and they say the best time to travel in a desert was night, but with a looming sand storm at her back, she couldn't afford to stop. The distant howl of sand and wind drove her forward.

Her captor had suppressed her chakra just enough that he could control her, but he underestimated her chakra _control_. She wasn't called the Hokage's prized apprentice for nothing; surely even if he lived under a rock, he'd have heard the stories, at least.

Not to toot her own horn, or anything.

But really, there was never a good time to be a hostage. She blamed herself for her capture. It had been completely unprofessional.

Sakura entertained herself by mentally counting all the ways she could beat up on a clone of herself without making it disperse – as punishment for letting this complete stranger get the drop on her – until something caught her eye.

Several small structures appeared in the haze of the hot air in the distance; she eyed them warily. None appeared to be habited, but they offered no shade from the burning sun, either. They looked like naturally occurring formations; she checked them quickly, but found no moisture, so Sakura pushed on. There weren't even any cacti nearby.

She groaned.

And they were definitely headed south, which meant that the chances of encountering civilisation was high. She just wished there were more of these towns she so desperately craved. Unlike the Land of Fire, the settlements in this country were more sparse. But she couldn't even see a road to indicate commerce in the area.

Not to mention her vision was starting to blur; she had more access to her chakra now, but Gaara was heavier than he looked.

' _Just my luck.'_

It was his fault she was in this predicament, to begin with.

...

 **Three hours ago.**

No sane person ventured into the infamous Nara Desert in the middle of a storm. But her captor was hardly normal enough to be mistaken for sane.

They'd been travelling for days, but it felt like weeks. He seemed to have a keen sense for the weather in the desert, avoiding the worst of the storm; normal people had to stop and wait it out, but when she suggested this to him, Sakura felt the full weight of a stare more patronising than her shishou's when the pinkette missed a target in kunai training. Or when she felt frustrated that she couldn't heal everyone's wounds, no matter how severe or long lasting.

It was really freaky.

And not to mention, Sakura's subsequent questions of the redhead wanderer were greeted with either unenthusiastic grunts or tense silence and she was left to her own devices for the most part. She had no idea who he was, only that he was the strongest chakra user she'd ever encountered, outside of an affiliated village. And he was definitely _not_ affiliated; there was no headband, of course, but the other proof was the fact that he bore the look of a desert wanderer. Dressed for travel and covered, he was most likely a sequestered bounty hunter for hire.

Which was both frustrating and intriguing when trying to figure him out.

But he knew what he was doing. The chakra suppressors on Sakura's wrists were well done, and since she'd been exhausted from her fight with those shinobi, her captor was in complete control of her; all he'd had to do was swoop in when she was done dispatching them and quite literally, tie her up.

Not to mention that other thing; that other reason she'd been caught so unaware.

Sakura glared in the redhead's direction; her heated stare didn't seem to affect him, but he wasn't her target.

The small creature tucked into his collar fixed its beady eyes on Sakura when the man wasn't watching her. It was an odd little thing that had taken her by surprise and distracted her long enough for the stranger to sneak up behind her. She still didn't know how he'd managed to do so quietly, but she remembered the way his eyes had penetrated her, and it still made her tremble.

The man had a gaze that could silence seasoned shinobi. She almost wanted to know what he looked like under that weird scarf. _Almost_ ; there was an arrogance in the way he walked, talked, and ignored her. Even if he turned out to be as handsome as her raven-haired teammate, she still wanted to kick his arse.

Sakura was so caught in her musings that she almost missed the fact that the gritty, dry heat had lessened; they were approaching a settlement, but she sensed no chakra from any of the people she assumed were up ahead. But it seemed to bother her captor.

He stopped walking, and his body stiffened.

Maybe all this time of walking behind him and only being addressed when he wanted to make sure she wasn't going to starve or die of dehydration had already driven Sakura mad, because she could've sworn that sudden shift in the sand around him wasn't normal desert sand behaviour.

The pinkette craned her neck to look past him, peeking at what had him so annoyed.

The small settlement she'd espied amounted to a pitched tent with six burly men; several still seated, the rest stood at their approach, like they'd been waiting for the desert wanderer and his captive.

The tallest one scoffed. "We not who you were expecting, boy?"

Several of the men laughed at that. The tall bounty hunter – Sakura assumed they were, from their garb – seemed to be the one in charge. He unsheathed a sword from his belt and swung it to rest on his shoulder. It was an impressive size; a broadsword. It looked heavy. She couldn't help but feel impressed. Especially since she wasn't sensing any active chakra from any of these guys.

"Not going to talk, boy?"

Obviously not.

"They call you the Desert Demon, don't they? You're an isolationist with a bitter streak."

The redhead continued to stare at the man in silence.

"I heard a disturbing rumour about you."

Sakura shifted slightly, an odd feeling jolting through her body. What was that?

"Your name is really Gaara of the Sand. Am I right?"

The redhead gave no outward indication that he'd heard the man, but Sakura could see the tension in his body stretching to its limits, like a coil ready to spring into action from a static, motionless stance. It had to be true.

' _Gaara, huh?'_

The name didn't ring a bell. But why would someone lie about their name? She found it hard to believe he was undercover, or anything like that. Maybe she was just being naïve.

And what the hell did this all mean for her if these guys weren't the ones Gaara had been planning to sell her to?

The rest of this hunter's men stood slowly, languidly even, and Sakura shifted again, ready to defend herself. The men were itching for a fight, their hands going to their weapons, grins plastered on their faces, and chuckling like they'd just hit pay dirt. But the leader seemed intent on continuing his monologue; Sakura thought he quite liked listening to the sound of his own voice.

"They say you're not an ordinary bounty hunter. That you're a wanted man. That you're a ninja of the great nations, and not just any ninja..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence.

What could only be described as a ball of fluff came flying out of Gaara's high collared jacket; that beady eyed beast that normally hid in the collar threw itself toward the redhead's attacker. The squeal that erupted from the tiny creature was not half as shocking as the high-pitched scream being emitted from the leader of these hunters.

"Get this fucking thing off of me!"

A few minutes passed in which Sakura dodged several flying kunai, caught one mid-flight to use for herself, and then lost sight of Gaara for a bit; he reappeared as if out of nowhere, having dispatched the bounty hunter lackeys, now panting slightly. A sudden spike in chakra indicated to Sakura that she had been wrong about the battle capabilities of their enemy. Not that it mattered anymore, though her captor would say otherwise, given the state of his breathing.

Was he sick or something?

The hunter leader finally extricated himself from the slashing, spitting rodent; to be fair, it was probably some obscure mammal, but Sakura was no expert on the fauna native to the Land of Wind. The leader pulled a dagger and made to slash at the creature as what looked like a shield made of sand came up to protect it; Sakura watched in horror, however, as the tiny body of the creature flew through the air from the force of the man's attack, despite being saved from his steel.

She didn't like the beady eyed thing, but she hated animal cruelty even more than she hated this stupid, gritty desert. Sakura tugged at the binds on her wrists, surprised to find a slack on the seal. She could access a small amount of her chakra!

Her smile faded as she sensed the rise in chakra. Gaara was furious and he was pouring everything he had into _something_. And as Gaara grew angrier, the wind and sand were picking up. That strange sand behaviour she had noted before intensified, and they were all plunged into the middle of a mini sand tornado that had built up out of nowhere.

Was it a natural storm? It had come out of nowhere! He couldn't have summoned it himself, surely? She'd never heard of anyone having control over desert storms.

Sakura tugged on the collar of the cloak Gaara had given her to shield her from the desert elements, eyes widening as she contemplated the idea.

No. Not possible.

She was drawn out of her musings at the screaming of Gaara's prey and the distant shouts of new arrivals.

"You think we're the only ones who heard about you?" The hunter leader yelled over the roaring of the sand. "There'll be more, boy. You're marked! You're fucking _dead_!"

His body disappeared in the sand; blood caked and crushing. Sakura could smell the death on the air. She was a ninja. She was used to death. But this was foul. The smell alone almost made her lose her stomach contents.

Without warning, strong arms circled her waist and held her to a hard, warm body; Gaara tightened his grip and Sakura's vision went blurry. Sand kicked up around them again, but this time, it didn't feel angry. Behind her, the redhead trembled and stumbled.

Funny. _He_ didn't smell like blood or death.

When she opened her eyes, he was staring straight at her; Gaara was holding her underneath him, his body pining hers to the ground. Those strange, green eyes were unfocused however, and a few seconds later, they closed; Sakura let out a surprised, hiccupping noise when the full weight of his body settled on her.

Luckily, her chakra had already started to regenerate.

She checked his pulse. He was out like a light. Gaara had used the last of chakra to get them out of there; with the approaching chakra signals, she hadn't realised until it was too late that the bounty hunters weren't alone.

She wondered about the strain on Gaara, though. There was a direct conduit between emotions and over usage of chakra, and Sakura had no idea what his reserves were like to begin with. But she couldn't help but worry. It was surreal; he clearly had a substantial store of chakra, but whatever had caused that sudden storm had definitely contributed to his unconscious state.

Sakura pushed that out of her mind for now. There were more important things to worry about. The weird creature that Gaara had – a familiar of sorts, she supposed – had disappeared, and she was at a loss for what to do with her unconscious captor.

Sakura held a shaky hand up to touch the kanji on his forehead before removing her hand and wriggling to get out from underneath him. She turned her face away as he groaned and rolled away from her.

' _What the hell is wrong with him?'_

He was going to be no help. The sun was blaring down at them, and wherever he'd teleported them to, there was no sign of the bloodbath she'd just witnessed.

' _I guess it's up to me.'_

Huffing slightly, Sakura let her chakra trickle into Gaara; a mixture of her healing chakra and strength. She couldn't lift him on her own and without chakra, but lucky for him, Lady Tsunade had taught her a thing or two about overcoming her physical weaknesses.

Sakura looked out over the expanse of desert they'd found themselves in. Literally, in the middle of nowhere.

' _Lucky for him.'_

…

XXX

...

I realise elements of this chapter might be a _little_ confusing. If they are: sorry. It'll all make sense eventually. :)

This was initially inspired by ideas I was going to incorporate into The Spoils of War when I first posted it back in 2011. (Just thinking about how long ago that was and my initial projections for it makes me slightly nauseated. _Getting there_.) Obviously, much has changed, especially after that loss of information a while back. So, that's where the "Gaara captured Sakura" part came from, at least. Still, this is a very different story. I view this as a short multi-chaptered slow burn story. Or a short multi-chaptered eventual GaaSaku story. Eh.

Anyway. Lotsa love. ^_^

 **R &R**

...


	2. Follow Me

Hiya.

Thank-you so much for all the attention. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy lol. More than I could've hoped for. :)

And, uh, see that new image cover on this story? I've wanted to create my own cover art for this story, but need to get my lazy arse in gear, so the current one is just a placeholder. Because I looked at my new avatar and shuddered at the idea of it being on here. (Not in a 'I hate my avatar' way.)

Anyway. Enjoy. ^_^

…  
Chapter Two: Follow Me.  
...

" _What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well."_ _–_ _Antoine De Saint-Exupéry,_ _The Little Prince_ _._

.

' _Just my luck.'_

The sound of chattering drew her out of her internal flashback. She'd been carrying her former captor for hours without any signs of life, but now she could hear but not see what sounded like a rodent as it scurried nearby.

Sakura stood still, uncertain at first what she was hearing. Her chakra was busy trying to keep Gaara from going horizontal and taking her with him; she couldn't expand her power to determine what this new disturbance was. Instead, she tried to use her other senses to get a fix on the thing.

It could be anything – from a nocturnal mammal that had no intention of jumping out into the searing heat to attack her, to a reptile trying to find food or a source of moisture and so wouldn't be interested in coming near two odd looking ninja. She hoped. It would be embarrassing to be taken down by the local fauna at a time like this. She still needed to get herself and the unconscious Gaara to some kind of shelter.

Somehow.

The noise came again and suddenly, Sakura was struck with a familiar, foreboding sensation; those beady eyes of Gaara's familiar were staring at her. She just knew it. At least it wasn't a pack of wild dogs getting ready to ambush and eat her.

After what had happened to it, she couldn't help but worry, but judging by the scurrying noises the animal was making, it was healthy enough.

' _So, what's with all the chattering?'_

Sighing, Sakura shifted her weight and started walking again. If the stupid thing wanted to make itself known or _help_ for whatever reason, it was certainly welcomed to do so. But it was as about as useful as having a woolly, mammoth coat while living in a parched desert. The strange creature let out a loud squealing sound, startling the pinkette.

Sakura groaned.

"You little..."

She'd been thinking about what kind of animal it might be, to keep her mind off of everything that had happened. To a degree. There were numerous animals that sprung to mind when Sakura thought 'rodent' and 'beady eyes', but few that were native to the Land of Wind. She tried to recall all her wild animal studies, but most of it was years ago, and the only ones she'd read up about from the desert, were for a joint project with Ino Yamanaka to see who could impress Sasuke-kun.

' _Stupid.'_

But she did remember reading that small foxes in deserts were burrowers, which would account for how she could hear but not see this damn thing. It probably knew this desert better than your average _human_ wanderer, too.

More chattering and a strange rustling sound; maybe it was a ground-like squirrel. It would fit the 'rodent' moniker she'd been slapping it with. But Sakura couldn't remember, from her fleeting look at the thing if it's tail was furry or bushy or not.

It had disappeared after the scuffle, but she'd developed a keen sense for the thing – for that grating feeling of its beady eyes sizing her up. It was definitely nearby.

Suddenly, it barked.

' _It barks?'_

Maybe it was a fennec fox – a mutated one that was mostly hairless.

No, that wasn't it.

' _Is it following me?'_

Sakura stopped as she sensed its chakra all of a sudden. It was a ninja animal?

' _A piss poor one.'_

The chakra being emitted from it was small; maybe used as communications with Gaara? Maybe it was trying to tell her something. Sakura half turned as it appeared out of a newly burrowed hole to her right; the small creature climbed out and shook its body like a dog would coming out of water. Then it turned its judgemental gaze on the pinkette, and Sakura frowned. This was the first time it had shown itself to her in full; the entire time she'd been travelling as Gaara's captive, it had kept mostly out of sight.

She cocked her head at it. Now that she got a better look at it, there was one animal that popped into her head.

' _A meerkat?'_

The strange creature had to be a meerkat. They weren't native to the Land of Wind, which was why it hadn't occurred to Sakura to begin with. And it looked under fed. And meerkats were supposed to be sociable creatures, not complete arseholes. She stared at the thing; the dark rings around it's eyes reminded her of the man still weighing down her shoulder. She didn't know much about them, other than they were not solitary creatures.

' _What happened to its family?'_

Maybe it got separated from them and now saw Gaara as family?

If she wasn't so annoyed with the stalkerish habit of the beady eyed thing, Sakura would be feeling sorry for it. It seemed to be waiting for something from her. Since it could probably smell that she had no food on her, only one thing occurred to her that it could possibly want.

"Lead the way."

Seemingly understanding her speech, the meerkat turned and darted away; not so fast that she couldn't keep up with her heavy load, but not so slow that she didn't grit her teeth in annoyance at its deliberately apathetic pace.

' _I can't believe I'm letting this thing lead me through the desert.'_

She'd gone insane.

But Sakura had no idea where she was going. She was lost, and this creature was the only choice she had left to her now. So, she altered her trajectory and dutifully kept pace with the pesky rodent.

' _Mammal.'_

A part of her lamented that she couldn't label it a rodent, anymore.

With the sun soon setting and that howling storm in the distance behind her, Sakura was feeling desperate and a little bit panicked an hour later, when there was still no shelter in sight.

"Cat?"

It wasn't a cat, but Sakura couldn't think of what else to call the strange familiar of Gaara's.

"Damn it. Where are we going?"

She received no response; the creature had taken to zigzagging across the sand in front of her, like it was searching for bugs under the ground. If this was a forest, it wouldn't look so stupid doing it. But it kept it up, as if it had done this hundreds of times before. Finally, it stopped, and Sakura came to an abrupt halt.

Her chakra network was screaming at her as she wiped her brow and tried to shift Gaara's body again; she failed, and they both came crashing to the ground. Sakura let out a small whimper and coughed as she got a mouth full of sand. She'd had a good momentum going, walking; one foot in front of the other. Now it was ruined, and she suddenly felt the full weight of her burden. She couldn't lift Gaara anymore.

The creature – meerkat, whatever – hurried over to her, but kept its distance as it started chattering away. She watched it before realising it was trying to point something out to her.

' _Is that a mirage?'_

It was actually a series of what looked like limestone formations; pinnacles of rocks jutting out that she had not seen a few minutes ago. Like they'd appeared out of nowhere.

The absurdity of the situation was not lost on her.

' _It probably has something to do with the shift of sand around them.'_

That and they were still some distance off – maybe about ten more minutes in her current state, which seemed like _forever_ , right now. But if she knew they had a destination and that it might hold some form of shelter, she could do it – even if she ended up dragging Gaara along the ground after all.

Sakura closed her eyes and tried to channel the can-do attitude of her male blond team mate, hoping his infectious optimism could help her right now. Every muscle in her body ached, but she pushed it away, forcing her chakra to rise once more. This was it, the last of her power. She needed to use it.

Linking her arm around Gaara's, Sakura pushed herself to her feet and – in no way that could be considered dignified – pulled him along with her. She groaned and tensed with every step, but it was worth it when she finally smelled that tingle of water in the air. Emboldened by the smell, she pushed her exhausted body further, keeping the meerkat in her vision; her blurry vision that decided to, every few seconds, pretend the creature wasn't even there.

When she finally stood in front of the stone pillars (they were _huge_ and randomly shaped, up close), Sakura couldn't tell where the smell of water was coming from. She blinked heavily to get the sweat out of her eyes and turned to see what her animal companion was doing; it darted behind one of the pillars and the pinkette followed slowly. Out of the line of sight of potential passers-by, one of the limestone formations had a low hanging entrance that was barely noticeable, even from behind it.

A cave?

But how did the meerkat know it was here? Did Gaara frequent this cave?

Intrigued and confused, Sakura followed the creature into the dark, dank hole in the ground; with every step, the smell of water got stronger and she felt her body moving faster. If you didn't know this was here, you'd easily walk right past it. It was the perfect shelter – from both the elements and blood thirsty bounty hunters. The steps were just naturally forming stalagmite that had broken and been traversed enough to wear them down – by _humans_ , she hoped. The last thing she needed was to encounter a cave bear or whatever the desert equivalent was.

' _Weird thoughts.'_

She blamed the heat.

Sakura left Gaara on the ground just past the naturally formed stairs and threw herself toward the small pool of water; an oasis under the desert was a strange but welcomed sight. She let out a satisfied grunt and fell to her knees, scooping the water in her hands and drinking. It tasted like spring water. There had to be an even deeper source beneath here somewhere.

It was miraculous!

Sakura continued to drink, but after a few minutes, it wasn't enough. She scooped another handful and splashed her face, then her clothes, her arms, and finally her head. She laughed, running her hand through the strands of her short hair, like she was washing it in her shower, back in Konoha. Like she was bathing.

Sakura stopped and turned to look at Gaara. He could probably use some of this too. She twisted her mouth in concern. Maybe once he woke up. Still, she inched over to him, her eyes on his scarf covered face, thinking. From this angle, Sakura could clearly make out that the scarf had slipped on one side.

Sighing at herself, she also knew that he would figure out she'd seen his face and hate her for it if she snuck a peek; if not his super human ability to read her, then his obnoxious animal would tell him. It was staring at her right now, it's beady eyes glaring with unadulterated contempt.

It was clear it had only saved her in order to save Gaara, but she felt like she should thank it, anyway.

"Uh..." She forced a smile. "Thanks for the rescue."

It's glare didn't waver.

She sighed again.

"Look, it's not my fault we're in this predicament, cat," she said, knowing the oddly intelligent meerkat could understand her. It barked at her. Sakura raised an eyebrow at it and then turned away, deciding it wasn't worth her attention.

She stumbled to her feet, finally taking in her surroundings. They were definitely inside a natural structure; the sound of rushing water met her ears, but barely. Funny how she'd only just noticed it, but it was distant – that water source she'd wondered at before, perhaps. Either way, it was an oasis: it was like an oasis _inside_ a cave. No, more like a pool of spring water encircled with the same kind of limestone that made up the natural stairs at the entrance, with an unseen network of tunnels fuelling it.

The logic didn't add up in her brain until she factored in the unknown of the desert surroundings – perhaps they were also nearby a topside water source. A heavily used one where anyone could find and attack them.

At least they were safe here, for now.

' _Wherever_ _ **here**_ _is.'_

She took a deep breath and got comfortable near the pool, letting the ambience of the distant rushing water lull her to sleep.

...

What felt like hours later, Sakura finally woke up. Her body was still sore, but she'd gotten the rest she needed. She stood, stretched, and did a few katas to ease her muscles. It almost felt like genin training, again, the strain it put on her. But after another helping from the oasis, she was feeling better.

Too bad there was nothing to eat.

Sakura looked over at Gaara, realising he was still asleep. At least now she had the chakra to move him to a better spot. The ground here was cool but not freezing, so he wasn't going to get sick; she checked his temperature to make sure he wasn't getting a fever and used her medical ninjutsu to probe him for other issues too, but found that his only problems were chakra depletion and mild dehydration – with the former, all he needed was more rest, but the latter could wait until he woke up again.

At least he had the time to recover now.

Sakura winced as his breathing became ragged and she double-checked him, but he soon settled into an easier slumber.

She sat back on her haunches and sighed. Something was sticking out of her boot; Sakura had forgotten the kunai she'd gotten from those bounty hunters. She'd tucked it into her boot because she had no sheath for it and she was more concerned with carrying Gaara at the time. Now, she stared at it, wondering what to do with it. It was of fine craftmanship, so those hunters had probably either stolen it or bartered with one of the forges that dealt with shinobi weapon making. It really was a fine blade.

Sakura spun it on her finger, tip down, just admiring it for a second, before remembering something else. Gaara had confiscated her things when he'd taken her prisoner. She prayed he still had the rucksack on him after all this time. It wasn't big – just enough to carry a few essentials – as all her other stuff was still in the hotel room near where he'd found her.

' _I guess I can say good-bye to all that stuff,'_ she thought, bitterly.

But she had some new stuff, like the high collared cloak Gaara had given her, to add to the small bundle she had. Sakura shuffled over to Gaara's sleeping form and, without removing his scarf, searched him for her other belongings. Under his heavy looking cloak, there wasn't much, which surprised her; she could feel toned muscles under the shirt, but ignored the warming of her face when he groaned at her touch. She quickly found her rucksack; it only held a small comb, a few medical supplies sealed in a scroll, and another sealed scroll which contained several journals and letters, but they were _hers_.

Mindful of the contents, Sakura carefully placed the kunai inside with her other things. It was definitely going to come in handy.

But she needed to get out of here.

' _And get some food.'_

A human being could survive weeks without food, providing there was enough water, but she didn't want to go to those extremes if she didn't have to. Then there was the issue of Gaara.

' _Maybe I should just leave him here?'_

The pool of spring water would keep him going, and a well-travelled desert wanderer like him could easily find food; a nomad would know where to find all that stuff. Sakura, personally, was rubbish at surviving in the wilds. Whatever those wilds might be. She fared a little better in the forestry surrounding her hidden village, of course – she'd taken that 'survival in the killer forests' class back in her academy days, but she had never been alone when _surviving_.

(The title had been a joke, but it worked, on so many levels.)

Sakura glanced back at her former captor. She wasn't alone now, though.

She sighed.

He would be fine.

' _Time for me to go.'_

She clutched her rucksack close and tightened her grip on the cloak Gaara had given her; it was a gift, after all. She had a fair idea of where she was now, in hindsight, so her survival odds were pretty good. She'd done the math.

With a deep, shuddering breath, Sakura turned away from the spring pool and Gaara, and made her way up the stairs. Every step felt heavier than the last. But she was determined not to feel bad about leaving him behind. She wasn't leaving him for dead, after all.

The sound of howling reached her ears and she realised the cave must naturally block sound from the outside. A feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach before she even realised that howling meant the storm from earlier had caught up to her.

She dropped her rucksack on the ground and groaned. She was stuck here.

' _Figures.'_

…

XXX

...

Boring? Interesting? Do tell.

Just setting up the stage for the next chapter. Lotsa love. ^_^

 **R &R**

...


	3. Silence is Golden

Hiya.

Sorry for the late-ish update.

Anyway.

It's Sunday night and all I can think about doing is writing GaaSaku. So, I've been diligently looking at another story for the better part of the day... then I remembered, "hey, I should finish chapter 3 of Water in the Desert instead". So, here it is.

Enjoy. ^_^

…  
Chapter Three: Silence is Golden.  
...

" _The desert is a natural extension of the inner silence of the body."_ _–_ _Jean Baudrillard_

.

' _Why is he still asleep?'_

Sakura was in no way in a hurry for her former captor to wake up, but this was ridiculous. His chakra was regenerating, and his vitals were stable; there was a strain on his body that was taking forever to dissipate, and she could only wonder why someone with such a powerful attack could be exhausted so easily. He just needed to sleep it off. But she'd felt his chakra (and his control, despite his anger) amidst the bone crushing and screaming of those other bounty hunters – he should be rejuvenated enough to have recovered by now.

Weird.

She sighed. The storm wouldn't let up, it seemed, and the more the hours pressed on, the more annoyed Sakura became at her situation. At _Gaara_.

All the disparaging, reproving, and _colourful_ things she wanted to say to him ran through her head and she silently fumed, angry that she couldn't just _let him have it_. The only thing that stopped her from using her chakra to force him awake was that there was no way of knowing what that would do to his recovery; her inner medic was a pain sometimes.

She needed a plan. She needed a speech – something to pummel him into guilt and submissiveness.

Sakura worked on her _rant_ in an attempt to calm herself, but it just got her more worked up. She needed to rest up too. She took a quick trek to the entrance of the cave to judge the ferocity of the storm before returning to a relatively comfortable position near the oasis pool – not too close or too far from her _patient_.

Sakura only let herself _rest_ ; she had to wake up before Gaara did, at least, so she couldn't afford to slumber too deep. That said, she _slept_ fitfully, waking and then drifting off again quickly and uncomfortably.

When she woke again, it was to the sound of Gaara's light snores.

' _Looks like he's recovered enough to sleep properly.'_

Even with a potential enemy nearby.

It was a common misconception from civilians that all ninja could instantly wake from R.E.M. sleep and spring into action, fully alert, in case of an enemy attack. The problem was that R.E.M. sleep was too deep; it affected everyone the same, ninja or civilian. It was impossible to quickly recover from; even for the most powerful and skilled – no Kage could do it, for example. What they _could_ do however, was enter the first stage of sleep and stay there until they need to wake up – _light sleeping_ was best for resting in enemy territory and when one only had a few hours to spare. It wasn't hard – it just required practice – and you didn't need to be a ninja to perfect it.

Gaara was just... _exhausted_.

The few times she deigned to check his temperature, he'd stirred and mumbled for a few seconds, leaning into her touch. The same thing happened when she held a damp rag (from his own bag) against his forehead when she was still worried he might be getting a fever after all.

It freaked her out.

What kind of dreams was he _having_?

But then he would mumble again, and this time she'd catch a few words like "no, don't" and "father, please" and she would breathe a sigh of relief. He was having nightmares, not... _other_ kinds of ones. It tugged at her; he was pitiable. As an isolationist, he was starved of human contact.

 _An isolationist with a bitter streak._

The words of their would-be killers rang in her ears.

' _That's it,'_ she told herself, confidently. He was just human and lonely. That _had_ to be it. It was just a coincidence.

Sakura sighed and turned back to stare unseeing at the stairs that led outside. Obviously, she couldn't hear the roaring of the wind and sand from here, but she imagined she could. On her most recent trip to the entrance, she'd set up a small Sensory Barrier – all she could manage with her skill level – which would react to the sound outside. It was currently humming gently, despite the natural formations in the cave that seemed to muffle sound, alerting her to the fact that the storm was still raging outside. When it did finally go quiet, that would be her cue to leave.

Sakura sighed, again, and glanced back at her _companion_. She couldn't exactly call him her captor anymore, given that he wasn't currently conscious enough to contest that fact, and she had more control over her chakra right now than he did.

And if the storm let up before he woke, she was fully prepared to leave him behind. That feeling of dread she'd experienced when she attempted to leave the cave before fell like a heavy weight in the pit of her stomach. There was no reason for it – _he'd_ kidnapped _her_ , not the other way around. Logically, she should be outraged. And _stay_ outraged.

And yet.

Sakura had been tracking him too. She thought he was someone else initially; her true quarry had disappeared before she could detect his chakra and upon first sensing Gaara's, the pinkette had assumed he was the same person (given the chakra of her quarry was unknown to her). Only when she was able to make a visual confirmation of whose chakra she'd been following did she realise her mistake. And before she could retreat and retrace her steps – hopefully to the last known position of her target – that damn meerkat had distracted her and Gaara had pounced.

' _What was he even doing in such a heavily populated civilian area, anyway?'_

It had been a case of mistaken identity on her part. Maybe for him, too? At first at least – she was well-known for her pink hair, not to mention her name should've given away who she was – she'd given her name freely thinking it would make him let her go (capturing the Hokage's protégé was above the paygrade of average bounty hunters, after all). Obviously, it didn't work. But what she was worth to someone with the gall to _try_ : he'd then decided to sell her to another group of bounty hunters. But it got her thinking: if he was a hunter, too, why didn't he just go straight to trading her back to leaf ninja? Why trade her to other hunters who could then turn around and make a profit by selling her back to her own people at an even higher rate?

The only reason she could think of was that he avoided ninja. Which meant he had something to hide from the nations.

' _Hiding...'_

Sakura pursed her lips and studied him. The scarf – which she had respectfully left to keep his face covered – had slipped about an inch, but after his stirring, it was now firmly back in place. It made her wonder what else he was _hiding_.

She sat forward on her knees and contemplated just taking a quick _peek_. She couldn't see that annoying furball anywhere, so it couldn't tattle on her to Gaara. His uncanny ability to read her flashed across her mind, but what could he do if she refused to admit it, anyway?

Anxiety tugged at her, but she pushed it down. Sakura shuffled over to his prone body and took a deep breath to prepare herself. If he woke up now, she'd die of mortification.

Her fingers inched toward the scarf covering his lower face, itching to reveal what he was so dead set on keeping hidden.

' _No.'_

He murmured softly, and she held her breath. After a few minutes of no more sound, she calmed down.

Her finger tips brushed the material and she hesitated again.

Damn it. Damn her conscience.

It was his choice to cover his face and she had no right to undermine that. No matter how much she wanted to. Kami, she wanted to. Her curiosity was going to be her undoing. She had a thing for unmasking people. Just like she'd done with her old sensei. She knew from how defensive Kakashi was about his own mask, just how protective ninja could be about their disguises. How it became a part of them; an extension of themselves. On some level, she _did_ understand.

Sakura remembered her genin days, when she and her teammates followed the silver haired ninja around, eager to uncover his secrets.

What if he has lips, like a blimp? Or maybe buck teeth? Or a tiny mouth?

They had been so naïve.

But here she was again, with another ninja hiding their face, and she _really_ wanted to know what the big deal was. After she got out of here they would be going their separate ways, anyway. What harm could it do, really?

Sakura licked her lips, trying again to resist the urge to see if he was as attractive under the thick scarf as she assumed. His eyes were mesmerising and what little she could see of his face was unblemished – there was nothing to indicate he was unattractive. Nor attractive, really, but his eyes gave her hope that he was.

Her fingers twitched again, and she pulled them to her shirt, digging into the material to keep her from giving into temptation.

' _Must resist.'_

She had to get this urge under control. Her curiosity was not more important than his right to privacy!

There was no _logical_ reason to uncover his face. She didn't need to see what he looked like to treat his wounds and keep him from getting pneumonia in this too-cold cavern. She certainly wouldn't be able to explain it away if he miraculously woke up while she was gazing at him. She scoffed. _If_ he was attractive under all that.

' _Must_ _ **touch**_ _...'_

Ugh.

Her inner made her feel like a schizophrenic.

She decided to go for it. And _quickly_.

Sakura didn't waste time taking a deep breath, she just reached out, her hand hovering momentarily over his face, and then...

Gaara's hand shot up out of nowhere and grabbed her wrist, stopping her. Jade eyes met emerald and her breath hitched. How long had he been awake? All her argumentative thoughts and well-planned out speech fled her mind and she couldn't think. What was she going to say?

Silently, they both stared at each other as she searched for something to say. _Anything_.

Gaara was still holding onto her wrist, the pressure on her skin enough to keep her from pulling away, but not enough to hurt her. Well, it was tight enough to restrain _most_ ninja. She cleared her throat and pulled out of his grip; his surprise at her strength was momentarily reflected in his eyes.

"Uh, you're f-fine. Y-you can get up now."

Sakura moved away from him, sitting back down in her usual spot next to the oasis pool and wiped at her hands absently, trying to fight down her blush.

' _Dumb.'_

She was such a bumbling idiot.

He cocked his head at her and she saw the amusement in his eyes. She imagined he was smirking under that scarf. She scoffed.

' _The jerk.'_

Gaara stared at her for a few seconds before turning away finally, and Sakura caught a flash of something – a mark on his skin as he readjusted the scarf. Maybe he wore the material to cover a scar? It wasn't unheard of that shinobi, grievously wounded in battle, would cover their shame. But someone like Gaara had no-one to hide it _from_? The scarf covered his nose and both upper and lower jaw much in the same way her former sensei's, which made her more curious than ever to see if he too, was handsome underneath.

She shook her head. It was a waste of time wondering. Now she had a more pressing issue.

Gaara was staring at her again, silently, and Sakura felt her skin flush at the attention. It had been almost a week since he'd captured her and knowing he was the silent type, she wasn't expecting too much from him. He helped her when necessary, fed her, and gave her protection from the sandstorms, but he had still been looking to offload her for the right price. Nothing good he'd done could be excused when one factored in that last point. But he hadn't hurt her or taken advantage of her, like a lot of bounty hunters did to their female captives.

' _Maybe he's gay. Or asexual.'_

Sakura shivered.

He might not talk much, but he had _expressive eyes_ down to an art. But the way he was looking at her right now – like she was both bothersome and an animal in a zoo – was annoying. It wasn't _artistic_ at all. Maybe he was waiting for an explanation as to why he woke with her hovering over him; she'd learned enough of his tells to know he was a curious creature, despite a natural tendency to pull away from others. Aloof but inquisitive.

And it pissed her off.

She stood, suddenly, surprising even herself. Sakura felt a different kind of warmth spread through her body; her anger at being captured and treated like a piece of beef to be auctioned off came roaring back. Her memorised speech-like rant spewed from her mouth as he too, stood up, looking ready for a fight.

"Okay, that's it!"

And off she went. Her mother always told her she was good at ranting. She started with the basic schooling on the etiquette and personable customs that he was clearly lacking in, moved on to the proper way to treat a captive, and then lectured him on how stupid it was that he'd teleported them into the middle of nowhere after that fight.

"You were clearly too exhausted to give me directions to this little hidey hole of yours, so what the hell were you expecting me to do, camp out in the middle of nowhere with a storm bearing down on us and pray for Kami to save us? You're lucky I didn't _kill_ you and then leave your corpse there for the vultures."

All the colourful things she'd reserved for Naruto's social blunders, Sasuke's lack of concern for her welfare, and Kakashi's ignorance of her skills, she poured into her deep resentment of her current predicament.

"I mean, I get that you're a hobo, vagabond, or whatever," (his non-existent eyebrows quirked at that), "but that does not excuse..."

Despite his defensive posture, he remained still and attentive as she continued to rant at him.

She lost track of time, but her spiel came to a close as she felt the energy draining from her.

"And the least you could do is thank me for saving your ungrateful arse!"

She was done. Slightly panting and just as furious as ever but _done_.

Sakura glared at Gaara expectantly but all he did was stare back at her. What was going through his head?

He nodded slightly but didn't otherwise deign to respond.

"Tottori."

Tottori?

Gaara's voice was croaky, but that meerkat familiar of his appeared as if out of nowhere and went to him swiftly, disappearing back into his high collared jacket.

' _Figures the thing has a_ _name_ _.'_

She'd wondered where it had gotten to. Maybe the beast had been watching her tirade, but she was too worked up to notice?

She took a deep breath, finally settling her nerves. She wasn't a stranger to telling someone off – often it was one of her teammates or someone in the infamous Rookie Nine – but it was different with someone not as familiar with her temperament. But somehow Sakura doubted he'd be quaking in his boots, even if he knew how destructive one punch from her would be to him. Maybe a little demonstration was in order, but she really wanted that "thank-you" from him.

"Well?"

Gaara glared at her; she glared back. A few minutes of this staring contest was apparently enough, and he sighed. "Thank-you."

Sakura deflated, her anger disappearing, and she acknowledged his thanks with a meek "you're welcome" before returning to her position by the oasis. She glanced at the entrance to the cave, suddenly remembering the Sensory Barrier she'd placed there; it was still humming away. She wondered if he could sense it. He gave no indication that he did, however, now moving further away from her. She decided to broach the subject only if need be.

She watched as Gaara rifled through his things, clearly looking for something, her hand going to her rucksack protectively; the kunai was still inside, and she was positive he didn't know she had _that_ at least.

Gaara paused, tilting his head toward her slightly, as if realising she'd frisked him to get her things back. His body tensed slightly, but then he seemed to think better of starting an argument over it and went back to sorting out, whatever it was he was doing.

Sakura let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. He had no cause to complain about it, anyway.

But the silence always bothered her and, not for the first time, she attempted to engage him in conversation just to ease the boredom of doing _nothing_.

"Where'd you find Tottori? I've read about meerkats, but I didn't know there was any this far south." She chuckled nervously. "I guess that's why I thought it was a large rat at first."

An indignant squeak; Sakura's eyes widened at the sound, trying to spot the bulge the creature had undoubtedly made under Gaara's clothes. She couldn't spot it.

This slight on Tottori got his attention and the redhead turned to look at her, clearly annoyed. But after staring at her for a long minute, perhaps weighing his options, he turned away and proceeded to ignore her again.

' _Jerk_.'

A few more minutes passed before his deep voice drifted over to her. "She's not a rat."

Sakura bit her lip. _She_ , huh? Well, it wasn't like she'd ever seen a meerkat before and they weren't supposed to be native to the Land of Wind; it wasn't like she was an idiot.

According to her barrier, the storm was still going – she assumed Gaara knew somehow, as well – so Sakura decided to settle in as comfortably as possible, for a while. But the difference between her and the redhead was that she was an outgoing person. If she was going to stay awake (she wasn't even tired), there had to be some dialogue. He was verbosely _boring_ , though it hadn't stopped her before. If only to annoy him, she started talking again.

"When I get home, I'm _totally_ going to binge on cookies. I haven't had a decent baked good since I left. Do you like sweets? Somehow, I don't think you're the confectionery type, though. Maybe something bitter. You're a bit bitter yourself."

No response. Sakura started a monologue on the best way to enjoy confectionery without permanently damaging your teeth before realising he wasn't going to answer. So, by the time she'd stopped to see if he was annoyed or inclined to respond, Gaara had already made himself comfortable on the ground; he'd chosen a spot on the other side of the oasis pool, but still in sight, like he was keeping an eye on her. He was staring up at the ceiling, though, and she couldn't tell from this angle if his eyes were closed. It frustrated her, but also made her wish she had a sleeping bag, because unlike him, she wasn't as accustomed to sleeping on this kind of ground.

"Gaara?"

He glanced at her momentarily before rolling away from her. Her eyes drifted to his nicely shaped backside... was he _trying_ to frustrate her?

His voice was oddly strained as he told her, "get some sleep."

She cleared her throat. "You've rested enough, don't you think?

No answer.

Sakura frowned. "Are you _really_ going to just ignore me?"

Hm.

She sighed. "After that debacle with the other bounty hunters, you can't possibly know what you're doing anymore."

"Sakura."

She jumped slightly, surprised (she couldn't remember him using her first name before now). "W-what?"

He turned his head slightly to give her one of his passive aggressive stares. "Shut up."

And just like that, he was facing away from her again, and she was summarily _dismissed_.

' _Jerk.'_

…

XXX

...

Tottori was named after a desert in Japan if anyone was wondering. Just a side thought.

If anyone is interested, next month is MultiSaku month and there is a tumblr blog hosting an event in celebration. I only recently found out about it myself, but if anyone has a tumblr account (or not – you can post elsewhere too: just read their rules _really carefully_ ), you should totally check it out. There's one Sakura pairing highlighted each day and **GaaSaku** is day 19 – don't know if the hosts realise the significance of that number or not lol. If you ship Sakura with anyone else, I suppose I'll let you do them too. ;P  
(Joking of course: me too. :))

Anyway, it would be nice to get as many **GaaSaku** writers, etc., into it as possible. Might be a nice way to spread the **GaaSaku** love. :) Here's the url: multisakumonth -dot- tumblr -dot- com.

[edit: url is fixed.]

Shameless self-promotion: I'll be linking from my tumblr to fanfiction net (& AO3) for anything I write. (*wink, wink*)

Ooookay. That's all for now. Lotsa love. ^_^

 **R &R**

...


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